Pleated skirt



April 16, 1946.

J. KORET PLEATED SKIRT Filed Feb. 17, 1944 INVENTOR. J05 K01957- ATTOREY Patented Apr. 16, 1946 UNIT D' PATENT OFFICE PLEATED SKIRT 1 JoeKoret, San Francisco, Calif, Application February 17, 1944 Serial No.522,763

3 Claims.

This invention relates to pleated skirts of the type shown in mycopending patent application filed under Serial Number 179,184, on March15, 1943 (issued March 14, 1944, as Patent No. 2,344,- 462), and has todo with improvements therein,

In the skirt of the pending application the pleats are accordion-likesections and extend from the lower edge of the skirt to the extremeupper edge of the skirt and arranged in such a way that the skirt foldsflat into two adjacent stacks of pleats connected across the top andbottom of the stacks by fiat or outfolded sections all held in thisfolded relation by a draw-string or tape, which passes in and out of thepleats around the waistband and is clearly exposed to view while theskirt is being worn.

The present improvement provides a construction at the waist-bandportion of the skirt whereby the draw-string or tape is concealed orsubstantially concealed, yet causes the pleated skirt to fold fiat intotwo adjacent stacks of pleated sections joined across the top and bottomof the stacks when the ends of the tape are pulled or the sections arepushed back along the tape.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a portion of the upper part of the skirt asseen from the inside of the skirt.

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section of the Waistband portion of the skirttaken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic top view of the skirt in substantially flatfolded position indicating the run of the draw-string tape.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic cross section of the Waist-band portion of theskirt in almost fully opened out position illustrating the run of thedraw-string tape.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic enlarged cross sectional view of the partiallyfolded pleats at one side of the skirt illustrating the run of the tapebetween the layers of cloth at the waist-band and showing the final endsof the tape brought back within the skirt for tying.

Fig. 6 shows a modified guide for the drawstring tape.

In further detail Fig. 3 indicates the manner of flat folding of thepleated sections I into two adjacent stacks connected across at top andbottom of the stacks by somewhat wider fiat or outfolded sections 2, 3and which sections are collapsed to folded position by means of adrawstring tape 4 which passes in and out through openings in the innertips of the pleated sections as indicated and with its final ends 4'extending h 3 for tying into a bow at the outside of the skirt.Thisdiagram is substantially like the diagram in Fig. 5 of my copendingpatent application referred to except that in that figure the. tapeopenings were adjacent the outer tips of the pleated sections. But thepresent invention diifers ina further most important respect in the factthat the tape passes inand out of openings formed in the inner wall ofthe waistband portion without being visible at all from an outer view ofthe skirt, as when worn, and as will appear from the larger View of thedrawing to be described. l

In Figs. 1 and 2 the actual relation of the drawstring tape to the bodyof the skirt is clearly through the wider sections shOWIl. Here thepleated sections l are indicated as outwardly projecting pleated lines Iand inwardly projecting pleat lines I" and which extend from the extremeupper edge 5 of the waistband portion of the skirt flaringly to theextreme lower edge (not shown) of the skirt. The wider sections 23 whichconnect across the double stack of pleated sections as shown in Fig. 3may be pleated or plain or may consist of several outfolded pleatedsections to connect the folded stacks of pleated sections to permit thefiat folding of Fig. 3 and preferably the pleat lines I and I are madepermanent by stitching as shown and described in my aforesaid pendingapplication.

In the present construction the Waist-band portion is preferably made ofat least two layers of cloth, either by doubling the goods over inwardlyat the waist-band portion or sewing, a separate band-like layer 6 inplace as by marginal stitching l and 8 While leaving the two layers freebetween these rows of stitching, and if desired an additional layer orlayers may be used in the waist-band portion. The inner layer or layersare formed with pleat lines corresponding to the lines I and I of theskirt and additionally formed with slits 9 or button holes spacedslightly to opposite sides of each inwardly projectingpleat line only toprovide guiding loops at said inwardly projecting pleat lines throughwhich the draw-string tape 4 passes as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

At the wider panels 2 and 3 the slits 9 for the tape are spaced tocoincide with those at the inner apices of the pleats so as to alignwith them when the skirt is collapsed or folded to the position of Fig.3.

Instead of the tape passing through slits made in the inner layer of thewaist-band portion, it s manifest that small vertically disposed tapeloops It! may be sewed as at H or otherwise secured in place over theinner pleat lines I" and under which the draw-strin tape 4 extends, asshown in Fig. 6. In this construction the waistband portion of the skirtmay or may not be doubled, lined, or reinforced. The tape loop l0 may bedivided or cut through along the pleat line I" as at IU so it will fallinto pleated formation easier when the skirt is collapsed to theposition of Fig. 3.

While the final ends of the draw-string tape 4 may: emerge through theouter wall of they waist-band portion (as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4)for tying, if desired the ends 4' of the tape 4 may be returned to theinterior of the skirt as indicated in Fig. 5 and be drawn and tiedbysimply turning the waist-band portion down slightly to facilitate thisand the ends tucked within the ,skirt. v The skirt is convenientlyformed with a slit or d fly My use of the words tape or draw-string tapeherein is to be taken as including the use of any type of draw-string,tape, belt, lace, or chain used in the manner indicated in the drawingor the equivalent of the showing.

I therefore claim:

1. In a pleated skirt having accordion pleated sections extendingthrough the waistband portion and arranged to fold into adjacent fiatstacks connected across the top and bottom of the stacks by extendedsections, the pleats of said pleated sections having inwardly projectingpleat lines alternating with outwardly projecting pleat lines, guidingloops for a drawstring provided at said inwardly projecting pleat lines,and a drawstring extending along the inside of the waistband If desiredthe tape 4 may be stitched or otherwise secured in place to the skirt atpoints M or terminated and secured at these points as this will avoidany tendency to collapse the wider panel 2 if the tape is drawn toomuch.

through said guiding loops in a manner to collapse the skirt to flatfolded position when the drawstring is drawn relatively to the skirt,said loops and drawstring passing therethrough being within the skirtand normally concealed from view from the outside of the skirt whenworn.

2. A pleated skirt in accordance with claim 1 in which said drawstringhas its free ends arranged for tying together within the skirt.

3. A pleated skirt in accordance with claim 1 except in which saiddrawstring has its free ends extending through the skirt and arrangedfor tying together on the outside thereof.

JOE KORET.

